Tournament Canceled, Local Teen Tees Up TikTok to Raise Money for School
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (April 2, 2020) Disappointed but not discouraged, Rafe Cochran, 15, who created a golf tournament at age 11, is turning to TikTok to achieve his fundraising goal for his fourth school project in Jamaica through Food For The Poor.
“I don’t want to postpone raising money to help others,” Rafe said. “During isolation, I decided to use my social media presence to promote my charity work and future projects. I feel very passionate about sharing what I do. I realized through social media I could share my cause with thousands of people.”
And share he did. The spontaneous talented golfer took to TikTok to reach out to his followers, asking them to join him in helping others. Click www.FoodForThePoor.org/rafe to watch.
COVID-19 (coronavirus) has sidelined sporting events everywhere, including the fifth annual Rafe Cochran Golf Classic, which was set to tee up on Saturday, April 18, at Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, in West Palm Beach. But Rafe was determined to find a way to keep the ball rolling.
“I told them that if everyone would give one dollar, we can make a difference,” Rafe said. “Think of the possibilities, if 100,000 followers each gave one dollar, we will have $100,000 dollars. This can help build a school because together we can make a difference. You are never too young to take action and make a difference.”
Rafe wants to provide much-needed classroom space for Holland High School in Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica. Holland High School, ranked among the top high schools in Jamaica, opened 15 years ago with a student population of 400. Today, there are nearly 1,100 students with an academic staff of 50. Rafe’s golf tournament in April would have built an additional building on the existing campus grounds, making it his fourth school project in the Caribbean nation.
“While Holland High School has been performing exceptionally well over the years, the school is unable to implement a full curriculum for its students due to a lack of classroom space,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “Rafe is a true champion on and off the golf course. He puts his all into everything he does, we are honored to have him as a Food For The Poor donor.”
Rafe fell in love with golf when he was 6. With the support of his parents, at age 9, he became one of Food For The Poor’s youngest donors, raising money to build 10 homes in Haiti and to build or expand three schools in Jamaica by the age of 14.
“We are truly proud of Rafe that even during this stressful and scary pandemic he is thinking about how he can help others,” Rafe’s mother, Diahann Cochran, said. “He now feels even stronger about educating the youth and helping them to be more prepared for the future. It is inspirational for us to see that Rafe is able to put aside his own fears for the sake of helping others.”
A ninth-grader at Oxbridge Academy, in West Palm Beach, Rafe also is a member of his school’s varsity golfing team. He competes in tournaments year-round, nationally and internationally, but believes that his philanthropic efforts are as equally important.
To learn more about Rafe’s projects visit: www.FoodForThePoor.org/rafe.
Corporate Event Sponsors: Bessemer Trust Company, Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, and Braman Motorcars of West Palm Beach. Individual Major Sponsors: Susan Phipps Cochran, Mr. and Mrs. Jim MacMorris, and Mr. and Mrs. Ron Romeo.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned and abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Wanda Wright
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
[email protected]